ProShare Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 755,264 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,460 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.28% of General Dynamics worth $172,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Markel Corp grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 390,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $94,181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 13.2% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,202 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 294.2% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 540 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 791.6% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,275 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,153 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,237,000 after acquiring an additional 11,630 shares during the last quarter. 86.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.46, for a total transaction of $3,043,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,955,637.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.83, for a total value of $1,467,895.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 113,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,590,829.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.46, for a total transaction of $3,043,710.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,157 shares in the company, valued at $9,955,637.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,230 shares of company stock worth $12,086,716. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:GD traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $218.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 133,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,166,196. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.39. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $256.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.84.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The aerospace company reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $10.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.45 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 8.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.75 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 12.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.32 per share. This represents a $5.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 5th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on GD. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $248.00 to $250.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.38.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.